Maintaining Equilibrium
by DragonflyDreamer
Summary: AU Characters/Couples: Damon/Elena  with some Katherine/Stefan , Mason/Anna/Jeremy, Damon/Anna FRIENDSHIP, Ensemble  Strong Language, some drug use. See inside for summary.


**Maintaining Equilibrium **

**Alternate Universe**

(Elena/Damon/Katherine, Mason/Anna/Jeremy, Damon/Anna friendship, Stefan/Katherine Ensemble)

For the last 60 years Anna and Damon have been looking for Katherine- for their own separate reasons. When Anna has a dream where Emily tells her that Katherine is in Mystic Falls, they head back to the town where it all began. Instead they find Jeremy Gilbert and Katherine's look-alike Elena Gilbert- orphans being raised by their Uncle John to hate vampires. The friends find themselves biting off more than they can chew- add witches, werewolves and originals to the mix and they might all be doomed.

Notes/rambles and warnings from the author

Warning: The Delena/Katherine/Stefan stuff can get pretty dark. Expect violence (No rape stuff though)

This fic came up in my mind when I was thinking about how Damon/Elena would work if he met her first and they were still on opposite sides. For a portion of the beginning Elena is locked away, but no worries: By chapter 2 the Delena stuff begins :).

I love Anna. I love Mason. I love Jeremy. Thus they get a triangle. Consider this the place where dead vampire diaries characters go lol. But who will win Anna's heart? If either?

I'm keeping all the Klaus/Originals stuff from the show, so expect them to pop up. I'm sort of blending seasons one/two and three to my liking.

The Anna/Damon friendship is a big part of this story.

**Prologue**

"Oh, are you making decisions now?" Damon Salvatore asked snidely as he kept his eyes on the road and away from Anna, who was no doubt glowering. "Or are we still letting your mother- oh, I mean a ghost, do that?" The road was a dark black line cutting through green glass sprinkled by red and yellow foliage that had already started falling down from Autumn's descent. It was a pretty suburban sight if there ever was one, and Damon felt like he was choking on it.

Anna, as usual, ignored his commentary and continued her very matter-of-fact instruction. "I said that your brother is staying at the Salvatore estate and so staying there is a terrible plan- I didn't make your decision, I offered a suggestion. At least get a heads up on what is going on before barreling into town and letting everyone know you're there." She wasn't looking at him, she was looking at an old, worn out copy of Frankenstein that rested comfortably in her lap, as though it had been there many times. "If you want to win Kitty's black little heart, maybe you should think before you act for a change."

"At least I think for _myself_." His response was cutting, "you let everyone else do your thinking for you."

The van that Anna had rented, using an alias of course, was more than comfortable for the two of them and their things. They were traveling from New England as he sought yet another clue to find Katherine. "You'd be best to remember who let you know that your obsession was out of that tomb- _that she shut my mother in_."

"I don't owe you anything." He shot back easily, "you're just convenient to travel with. I am staying at the mansion- I don't follow orders."

She sighed, obviously irritated- which was her usual state with him- even after 60 years of travelling together. She had saved his life when they met- from a duo of 400 year old vampires who he may have _possibly_ irritated by stealing their human, and taking her out for a joy ride… never to be brought back. He didn't blame them for being sour, she had been a tasty little thing. Apparently the one vampire had a real thing for that pretty little blonde- because when he found Damon drinking at the bar a week later, he was just about to tear Damon's heart out when a blur shot through the crowded establishment and whisked him outside- and at least three blocks away.

That blur had been the one-and-only Annabelle, whom he had barely recognized in her navy-blue cocktail dress with a ruched off-the-shoulder bodice. Her hair was gathered up in the style of the times- and she looked nothing like the silent child of Pearl that he had remembered. Who would have thought that little nobody had such a flair for style. Maybe she had learned a thing or two from Katherine.

"_Hey, nosebleed. Are you crazy? That one would rip your heart out- you were dead-meat."_

"_I was fine." Damon said coolly, reaching into his leather jacket and pulling out a cigarette to light, "it was under control." _

"_Right." She rolled her eyes, "I would love for you to give me your definition of 'under control' then. It seems vastly different than my own." She took the cigarette from his fingers and hit it, before returning it. "Do you remember me?" _

"_Yeah, Pearl's ankle-biter. I thought you went up in flames with the rest of your family." _

"_You and I both know that none of them are dead." _

_They stared at each other, then he shrugged. "Well, it's been nice catching up- really." Although from his tone she had to know he meant anything of the kind, "but I have some trouble to cause-"_

"_That couple you just upset?" Anna interrupted, "the husband is 400 years old. If I were you, I'd come with me so you can survive for at least another week."_

"_And why would you care if I survived?"_

"_Who said that I did? Maybe I can use you for something."_

He never thought that 60 years later she would be his only…friend.

He wasn't her only friend though. Anna, it seemed, wasn't like any other vampire he had ever encountered. In other words, she liked to travel in groups. Lonerville just was _not_ her thing. At the moment they were travelling in a pair but that was only because she had sent their third and fourth wheel to Mystic Falls to get the lay of the land. His name was Slater, an annoyingly overly educated dick who Anna thought was just _super awesome_. The other one was Jack, a female witch whose family had a connection with Anna. She was lending her services to Anna, anyway. Damon wasn't entirely sure why.

"Oh right. You just owe me your life." Anna responded easily (throwing that in his face as she often did), finally looking up from her book. "I'm telling you, Damon- your brother is already in town and so is Katherine. Do you want to get her back or do you want to snark at Stefan while he smacks you with his giant cross?"

"Those dusty old antiques would have never touched me." He deliberately ignored her jibe and went back to their first meeting. "I'm resourceful."

"You keep telling yourself that." She went back to her book and ignored his next two snarky comments- leaving Damon to his own thoughts.

He was going to see _her_ again- bury himself in her soft, silky hair and skin, smell her, hold her…be with her.

Deep down he knew that he should be furious with Katherine, leaving him as she had, knowing where he was and never coming for him but to hate her, to…be that angry wasn't in him. Not to her. When his anger flared it was always quickly buried within memories of passion juxtaposed with tenderness. She played the sentiments so kindly against each other that he was often left baffled when they were together until she could set him straight again.

_She had her reasons to leave me_, he told himself. Anna had said as much once, but then she had also said that the reasons were selfish and Katherine loved no one more than she loved herself. Still, he was selfish too, and so he understood it about Katherine, accepted it. They were a lot alike, the two of them. That was why Damon had always been so sure Katherine would choose him over Stefan.

"_Do you love me?" _

"_I do." _

She couldn't have been lying.

It simply wasn't possible.

XOXOXOXO

"Very nice- you haven't missed a target yet. Who would have thought after seven months that you would be this good?" John Gilbert asked with a sincere smile.

Jeremy put down the crossbow and turned around. His brown eyes, as always, were troubled and almost void of what a teen boy's eyes should be filled with.

Katherine watched him closely, though kept her gaze casual and unobtrusive. She then turned to John, wretched creature that he was, and smiled warmly. "Will I ever be that good, Uncle John?"

"Practice, Elena, and you will." He said in a tone filled with promise.

It was a cool autumn day- Katherine always did love the fall in Virginia. It was beautiful, the weather was wonderful and it often reminded her of days she would spend with Stefan and Damon. Virginia had always been a gift to her. Now its promise was tenfold as the doppelgänger was in her grasp- and so was Stefan.

Life was looking up.

Soon she would kill John Gilbert, take her place on that godforsaken council and get her moonstone. Freedom would be hers, _finally. _

_How long has it been since I could live unafraid? _

"Come on, Elena, it's your turn." Jeremy handed her the crossbow and grinned, "show that scum what we're made of- just like dad would have done."

She smiled at her "brother," who was also on that long list of victims that kept mounting in her head, and took the crossbow from his hands. It would be so easy for her to make this shot- she could do it from farther away too, but when she aimed at the target John had given them, a tree with a bulls eye drawn on it, she purposely missed, just as Elena would have done. "Ugh. Figures."

"It's fine," John told her comfortingly, "we'll practice for a few minutes longer but then we have to go home so you guys can do your homework."

"You'll get it this time." Jeremy told her encouragingly.

Again she missed, then she looked sideways at John, the asshole really had no idea that his daughter was locked away, just waiting for her death at the hand of an original. All she needed was the moonstone- but she was working on that. "I should go. I'll practice later. I have a date with Tyler."

"What about your homework?" John asked, his hands in his suit pants. He hadn't bothered to change from work, he just merely untucked his white dress shirt so that they hung over his pants. Even his suit jacket was still on, though a little more rumpled than usual.

"It's already done."

"Okay, well, tell the mayor I said hello and that we're on for golf in the morning."

"Will do, Uncle John. See ya, Jer."

"Later!"

XOXOXOXO

"I like the apartment, Slater." Anna dropped her duffel bag on the bed of her new room and then turned around to see the scholar leaning against the doorway, arms crossed as he stared back at her. "You and Jack did well."

"We always do." He smirked at her. "You said we don't need a room for Damon anymore?"

Anna nodded, "he's going back to the Salvatore mansion like a dumbass. Figures, right?"

Slater didn't answer, which was his way of being polite. Damon wasn't his favorite vampire in the entire world. In fact, the two spent most of their time bickering and shoving stakes into each other's stomachs. They'd both be dead if it weren't for Anna. Males were idiots that way. "Where is Jack?" Damon waltzed into the room with a smirk and plopped himself on Anna's bed- which had already been fashioned with light green sheets and a dark, forest green comforter. The room itself had off-white walls and a hard-wood floor. Anna looked forward to putting her paintings up and making it her own space- it wouldn't take long. She was used to decorating new spaces- it came with the territory of living such a nomadic life.

_You were going to settle down once…remember that? _She asked herself, suddenly feeling nostalgic. _Perhaps that had been the fatal mistake…._

"At work. She's staying late at the school. One of the teacher's died in a car accident and another one of the teachers was driving." Slater explained, "so she's helping out with things that they would normally do."

"Nice of her," Anna commented about their witch friend. "And what have you been doing?"

"Bartending at the most popular place, just as you asked. Want the headlines or the full articles?"

"Start with the headlines- we can go in depth later." Anna responded then sat down next to Damon and looked up at her friend, "lets start with his girl Katherine."

Slater nodded, "I'm glad, because that is an odd little occurrence, indeed." He stepped away from the doorway, folded his arms across his chest and looked at the mirror that she had on her wall. He adjusted slightly so that it was straight, then turned back around to look at Anna. "So she's enrolled in high school as Elena Gilbert- you'll see her. She was recently orphaned. That was about seven months ago. Anyway, she's dating a Lockwood."

Anna glanced sideways at Damon, "as in howling at the moon Lockwood? That kind of Lockwood?"

When he glanced back at her there was, what she thought could possibly be, a flicker of concern. However, it vanished as quickly as it came and so she was certain that she imagined it. After all, Damon Salvatore cared about two things and two things only- himself and Katherine. He definitely didn't care about some ally that was a step in getting what he wanted. "Have any of them turned?"

"Well," Slater bit his lip, "I'll get to that- lets focus on Katherine."

"Yes." Damon agreed, "lets."

Slater rolled his eyes, but knew better than to say anything. "The funny thing about Katherine is…if you ask anyone in this town- and I do mean anyone- they will tell you that she grew up here. Elena Gilbert has been this town's little sweetheart since she was born. She's had the same two best friends since the playpen and she is _the best_ sister there ever was. I checked the records and it all fits. Of course we all know records can be changed."

"So what? Did she compel the whole town?" Damon asked sarcastically, standing up. "I can't imagine even she is that good."

Slater shrugged, "I'm just telling you what I know."

"Is she-"

"Wearing the sun ring?" Slater finished for Anna, already knowing where this was going, "yes, she is. It's definitely Katherine."

For a second she stared at her friend with a dumbfounded expression. _No. No, it couldn't be. What are the odds though?_ "You said she's with a Lockwood?"

Slater nodded. "Oh yeah, Tyler Lockwood. He was seeing the town druggie- but she went missing about a month ago and "Elena" has been helping him through the loss."

_No. No. No. _

Anna closed the space between she and Slater, then kept their gazes locked. "And has he turned?"

Slater shook his head, "no. But the teacher who was driving in that car accident that killed the other teacher? That was Mason Lockwood. Tyler's uncle."

Anna turned to look Damon in the eye, to plead with him not to go to the Salvatore mansion because things just got a whole lot stranger.

But Damon was already gone. "Shit."

"Anna- you shouldn't be here." Slater whispered and sat down where Damon had been. He looked up with sad, puppy eyes. "It's dangerous. There are werewolves here- and Katherine is knee deep in them. What if she knows that-"

"She doesn't." Anna cut him off, then sat next to him. "She doesn't know, okay? And it's because she is knee deep in the Lockwoods that I _have_ to be here. I have to stop her because I think we both know what she is doing here."

Slater sighed, "bringing Damon was a bad idea."

"Since when is taking Damon somewhere a good idea?" she joked but Slater didn't laugh and the somber mood filled her own heart. "He has to figure out for himself that she's an evil bitch, Slater. The heart wants what it wants and there is no telling it what to do. It has to learn by itself."

"I know." He sighed, "why is he even your friend?"

Anna smirked, "he loves selfishly and recklessly. I can…relate to that."

"You're nothing like him. Anna- you barely even kill people." Slater reasoned, "look at you now, here you are in the most dangerous place for you…looking to save your mother, hell looking to save more than that." Slater put his head on her shoulder, "you appreciate knowledge and wisdom, you're loyal and beautiful."

"Damon is loyal, we're just not the people he is loyal to."

"Why help him then?"

Anna smiled slightly, "he was supposed to be part of our family, Slater- before Katherine wrecked everything. That means something to me, okay? Lets not dwell though. Emily sent me here for a reason, I better hop to and figure out what it is."

"No pressure though." Slater chuckled.

Anna rolled her eyes, "right. No pressure. Oh well, I need to get to my 'home.'" She said with air-quotes. "Can't have the whole world know that I'm with you guys- it'll blow our cover."

Slater frowned, "I hate that you're going to be off living with some strange human."

"Well," Anna paused to try and figure out a way to put this in a way that would make Slater more comfortable. "I'm decorating this room as my home, because you guys are what I will always come back to. Anna Price will have her own persona though- it's just for now."

XOXOXO

"Zach, so nice to see you- why so pale?" Damon shut the door behind him, maintaining his cheerful veneer as he walked through the Salvatore mansion. Not much had changed in his twenty-year absence, which was unsurprising. The Salvatores weren't much for decorating. "I expected a wife and kids by now- no luck? Maybe it's that sour expression you always wear that's keeping you from meeting Miss Right. So…where' my brother?"

"What are you doing here, Damon?"

"I've come home. I missed my family." Damon turned to look at him, "do I really have to ask again?"

"Stefan went hunting. You shouldn't be here."

"I'm beginning to think you don't like me, Zach. You _do_ like me, right? Because it would be a downright shame if you didn't."

Zach said nothing, but he did take a step back and Damon watched him visibly close off. They stared at each other for a minute and Damon had to say he was unimpressed by Zachary's dull gray business suit- really? They had a fortune and he wasn't wearing designer? "I'll be in my room then, tell Stefan to come and see me when he gets home."

"I will."

"You look nervous. Do I make you nervous?"

"Why are you really back, Damon?" Zach asked mutedly, "Stefan said-"

"See," Damon interrupted with a smirk, "your first problem was listening to _anything_ Stefan says, Zach. I'm back, isn't that all that matters?"

Zach said nothing, but his wide blue eyes were full of a panic that brought a song to Damon's heart. Being feared was so much better than being loved.

"Now run along. I'm going to make myself comfortable."

XOXOXO

Watching _The Notebook_ for the seventh time left Elena feeling empty.

She didn't even know how long she had been stuck in this awful cell, or when her evil twin was going to come back. She didn't know anything really- except that eventually she was going to die. She'd hasten that little event if she had the utensils to do it, just to throw a wrench into the bitch's evil plan, but no. There was nothing in her little cell that allowed that. Just a single bed, TV, a toilet and a refrigerator.

The walls were cement, there were no windows and she was only allowed into the room with the shower and new clothes when Katherine came down with hot food.

_Katherine_.

Had she killed her brother yet? Her Uncle? Her Aunt? Had she been the one behind the car accident that killed her parents? That almost killed her? What did she want?

There were so many questions, so many thoughts and no amount of television, excessive working out or meditation was going to derail that train running circles through her mind at that particular moment.

_I just need to escape- I need to protect Jeremy_.

But try as she might, there seemed to be no escape. The door was solid, immobile without the proper keys. Keys she couldn't get because Katherine was a _vampire_. She was too strong, too fast and, like all vampires, _evil_. What further proof did Elena need? Her Uncle, scumbag as he was, had been right all along. Vampires did exist and they were demons.

_I guess I owe him an apology- if I live. _

When she was asleep, Elena dreamed of staking Katherine. It was so unnerving though, and she couldn't get past feeling like she was killing herself- but that didn't stop the satisfaction of ending her captivity, of digging through the corpses pockets and finding her key to freedom, or of spitting on the motionless body before finally opening the door to feel the warmth of sunshine on her cheeks. _Sunshine…_

She let out a breath of air, _I'm forgetting what sunshine even feels like. _

The clicking of the lock opening gave her thoughts pause and Elena turned to see Katherine entering. "Pretending to suck at everything- you know, like a human- isn't so appealing. Especially when I would rather be ripping out hearts. Namely your sleaze bag of a father- oh, oops. I mean Uncle." Elena turned around and folded her arms over her chest. She didn't believe it. There was no way that Uncle John was really her father- she wasn't going to partake in Katherine's little games. "Oh? We're giving me the silent treatment then? How mature."

She still said nothing. "Well, your father gets a reprieve. Last month there was an animal attack. Strange, isn't it? Well the council doesn't quite agree. They think vampires are back. It's a real dejavu experience for me actually."

She couldn't help it, curiosity got the better of her. "It isn't vampires?"

"No. I've been very careful. Beside, we don't tear our victims limb from limb- well," a throaty chuckle interrupted her sentence, "unless we're really angry anyway."

Turning around, Elena caught Katherine's gaze, "so?"

"Werewolves. Lockwoods. Like I said, dejavu."

Elena shook her head, "I don't understand."

Katherine exhaled sharply and exaggeratedly, "don't worry your pretty little head about it. Here, I brought you burgers from the Grille. Tyler stood us up- jerk." She tossed the bag at Elena with a glowering expression, "I really thought getting Vicki out of the picture would do the trick. Maybe I focused on the wrong Lockwood. No. No, maybe I just need to get rid of the dad."

"You can't just go killing everyone Tyler cares about-"

"Are you sure about that?" Katherine asked with childish glee, "come now, Elena. I can do whatever I want. You're really slow at understanding situations. Just like that vapid broth- I mean cousin of yours." The statement was followed by a cheeky little wink. "He's cute though, I'll give him that- do you think he's ever thought about a little brother and sister kink?"

"You're-"

"Brilliant? Yes, I know. But it's doubtful- as prone as he is to liking this violent vampire hunting deal, I think he'd balk a little at incest. It's a shame really. At least there's Matt- he's just ripe for the taking…whenever I want. It was silly of you to toss such a scrumptious morsel in the trash, you know." She smiled, then flung her curls over her shoulder, "well dear. I must run, daddy dearest is expecting me anytime. I musn't let him think his little angel is doing something naughty. Ciao." Then, in one swift motion, she was out the door and the lock was clicking shut.

_One day….I will kill that bitch. _

Elena picked up her bag of food and eyed it hungrily, wishing she didn't have to eat it. However, hunger won out and she pulled out the burger.

After all, she would need to keep her strength up- one way or another, Katherine was going to pay. Elena just had to figure out how.

XOXOXO

Katherine.

Damon wondered when he would see her? Did she know that he knew she was alive?

How had she pulled off the entire town thinking they had grown up with her as Elena Gilbert? And why had she chosen on of the founding families?

He looked around the rich browns of his bedroom's style, and smiled. It did feel good to be home- despite some of the more unpleasant memories. There were some choice great ones- like the nights he had spent tangled up in sheets, getting blood drained from his thigh…tasting his own blood on her lips and then drinking hers down too.

Ecstasy. Every moment with Katherine had been bliss.

"_I just don't understand why you were so gone over Katherine Pierce. I really don't get her appeal." Anna muttered in annoyance, "she's a selfish, self-centered bitch."_

_Damon ashed his cigarette and snapped for the bartender to bring them another round. "Have sex with her," He offered, "then we can talk about this again."_

"_Does it really just boil down to sex?" _

_He laughed, "as if that wasn't enough? But no- there's more. She's a looker, for sure and she's got smarts, see. She can keep you guessing for days and then just make you beg to get more questions. You can't just make that kind of confidence- it has to be in you, Anna."_

Damon got up from his bed and leafed through his old papers, then set them down and walked over to his book shelf. _I could read a chapter or two, maybe get my mind off this hamster wheel. _

What to read though? Utopia? No. Some beat poets? No. Hemmingway? No. Ugh. He felt like he had read it all a thousand times. He picked up Oliver Twist and then idly began to leaf through.

He wondered what look Stefan would be sporting this time around, or if Stefan knew that the girl with Katherine's face _was_ Katherine. He probably didn't know, after all, he still thought Katherine was in the tomb.

_He must think she's really some girl named Elena._

He chuckled to himself over that. Thankfully he had met Anna and knew the truth. Well, a truth he wished wasn't true. Why had Katherine abandoned him? He would have followed her to the ends of the earth.

_Are you here to win her back or are you here for answers? _He asked himself.

Maybe both.

Deciding not to wait anymore, Damon put the book he wasn't reading down and shrugged on his leather coat. Maybe a walk would get his thoughts together- he didn't want to see Katherine while his brain was screaming. He wanted to be calm, cool and collected. He was not going to turn into a bumbling, love-sick fool the moment he saw her.

When he emerged into the cool night air, he instantly felt a little better. The full moon was approaching, and so the bright almost-circle in the sky lit the dark decently enough.

Maybe he could go back to Slater's place and talk to Anna- but he squashed the thought. She probably wasn't there anyway and in his Katherine-centric thinking he had forgotten to ask what human she was staying with. _I could ask Slater- but then I would actually have to talk to the walking-talking encyclopedia and I'd rather rip my eyes out._

Jack was probably back from the school and at the apartment, so that was a bust too. Anna would have to wait. _I kind of want to tell her that I'm not going to tell Katherine anything about her. _

They didn't often have tender moments, he and Anna, and when they did it was always instigated by her. She valued him, though God knew why.

_Well, I means besides the fact that I'm hilarious, charming and incredibly sexy._

He smiled at his own thought as he walked further and further down the street into Suburban hell. He already missed the hustle and buzz of the city. Their time in Boston had been extremely fun- and New York? Well, that had just been the time of his life. So many women, so many arteries and so many bottles of expensive bourbon and scotch. No one could party like him- no one.

He stopped immediately in his tracks as a pair of feet entered his vision. Heels, actually, a deep red pair of very high heels. His eyes followed the long olive colored legs to a short black skirt and then a deep red camisole and a black leather jacket.

Katherine.

**Chapter One**

The look on his surprise on his face was not at all feigned, and it stemmed from his shock of seeing her so early in the game. He wasn't really ready for this moment. _Would you ever have been, Damon? _

She was breathtakingly beautiful- even more so in her contemporary clothes, which he found vastly more appealing than those piles of clothing women once had to wear.

Her dark, endless eyes locked on his before he let her gaze go to scan her entire face. The symmetry, the flawless skin, the supple sweet lips- none of it had changed. Even the curls that fell and framed her face were the same. "Don't look shocked, Damon." She said in that easy, confident tone that he had never, ever forgotten, "you and I both know that the kill-joy Anna has let the cat out of the bag, so to speak."

_Okay, buddy, show-time. _

"Yes, but I didn't expect to find you returning to the scene of the crime." His response was cool- but it was nothing like the thousands of times he had practiced seeing Katherine for the first time. Nothing ever went as planned. "What are you doing back here?"

The left side of her lips lifted into a half-smile, "it's business, I assure you- however it just got exceptionally more pleasurable." She took a step toward him, lifting an hand to put over his chest- but he stepped back to avoid it. "What's this? Are you no-fun Damon now? That's a shame."

"No offense, but I think I may have lost my fun about sixty-years ago when I realized that the love-of-my-life was a treacherous, lying bitch."

"Now now, you knew I was always that." She responded in an almost-sing-song voice. She ran a hand along his chest while circling him, coming up on his left with a smile. " So what has really drained the fun from you, hm?"

"Better question- why did you kill all your friends in Mystic Falls and then run away?"

She leaned up and whispered in his ear, "That would be telling."

"Oh? Maybe I should tell a few things- like for instance: rat you out to my saintly brother. He thinks you're a human, right? I mean, you do know he's in town."

She smiled, putting a hand on her hip and walking away from him. "Jealous?"

"Hardly."

"I can't possibly take the blame for what your brother is doing. It's not at all my fault that he's been secretly stalking a human girl with my face." She turned and smiled sweetly, "he's so sweet, you know? He hasn't even approached me yet. He just…watches from a distance."

"That's not sweet, it's creepy."

She smirked, "harsh, don't you think?"

"So you came to town to be stalked by Stefan." He nodded, "and that's…all?"

"Is that ever all?" She asked, "maybe, if you're a really good boy, I'll tell you the rest."

He smirked back, hands in his pockets, feeling more in control than he had in quite some time. "My days of being a good boy are over, Katherine." He walked past her and started down the lonely, empty road of suburbia. "See you around."

XOXOXO

"_Do you think that I shall like this Mystic Falls?" Anna asked Emily, her tone fluctuating with the bumps of the carriage. "It is such a strange name for a town, is it not?" _

"_It is, Miss Annabelle." Emily agreed with a smile, "I know not if you shall like it. I can only wish it so." _

"_Does this place not look familiar to you? I feel as though I have dreamed of it many times. Does it not feel like home?" The questions came one after another, and Emily smiled at each one. "Why did Katherine pick this place? Did she tell you?" _

"_She is searching for something, Miss Annabelle. I know not what she seeks though. Would you know?" _

_Anna shook her head, and then looked out the window of the carriage to the trees that passed them. "I fear that I do not, sister." Anna replied, "She seems only tolerably well though, not at all giddy. Her thoughts must be heavy."_

"_Yes, she is shaken." Emily agreed. "Your mother is well though."_

"_She is always so." Anna agreed, "she has taken on a brother for me, by the name of Harper. Did you see him? He is handsome, I think. Stately."_

"_He is a negro." _

"_Ah, that he is." Anna agreed, "but that makes him no less stately, nor does it make you any less powerful. I wish you would allow us to give you eternal life, I really feel as though this business of color will be done away with. Times change, Miss Emily."_

"_Miss Annabelle, do not call me that. It will call attention to you. We must seem like all the others lest others will look upon us poorly. Even in private, you must abide me on this. What would happen to us all if in public you called me by such a title by mere accident?" The chide was followed by a panicked look._

_Anna looked at Emily peculiarly, "my mother was a slave and I a slave's daughter, Miss Emily. This world may look upon you as an inferior- but we are the same, you and I. We _are_ sisters. Perhaps you will take a liking to our new family member and choose to stay on with us." _

"_But what of my gifts?" _

"_The only gift of yours I am interested in is your companionship." Anna responded simply._

_Emily frowned, "sweet Annabelle- no one fears being alone more than you. If I have my way, you shall never be alone. I can promise this with no fear of interference in my debt to Miss Katherine. To her I serve, but it is your mother and yourself that I hold in my heart." _

_Anna reached over and squeezed Emily's hand, "and should you leave me?" _

_Emily smiled, "you need no more than clutch the stony rose and think on me, My Miss Anna- and I shall be bound."_

Anna shot up in her bed and immediately swung her feet to the ground. _My Emily_.

She walked quickly to the bathroom, all the while putting on her black tank and then a dark purple hoodie to go over it. Her jeans were hanging over the shower door and she shrugged those on next. When she turned to the mirror, she stopped. Behind her was Emily.

Anna stared at the ghost in the mirror. "Where is it, Em? Where are you?"

The reflection didn't answer, it only stared imploringly back at her. Anna felt the sorrow of Emily's loss well in her chest. "You never should have sent me away, Emily." She whispered softly, "you should have come with me when you forced me to leave- I would have protected you."

Still no response- but her dark eyes looked even more troubled. Anna, unable to help herself, turned around. There was no one there. A tear dripped down her cheek and fell into the white porcelain.

Anna looked back in the mirror at her reflection- how young she always looked yet how old she always felt. There had been so much loss in her life and so much loneliness. She reached into the bag hanging beside the cheek and began applying her make up so she could look older…and a little less dead. Blush- blush always helped.

She needed to go for a walk, she needed to think. What was Emily trying to tell her?

"_You need no more than clutch the stony rose and think on me, My Miss Anna- and I shall be bound."_

XOXOXO

"Yeah, Elena was pissed. Where were you, man?" Jeremy asked Tyler as the football star passed him the joint.

He took a few puffs from it and enjoyed the taste of it against his tongue and the feel of the smoke in his lungs. "I was eavesdropping on my dad, man." Was his response as Jeremy coughed out the smoke. Tyler laughed at him, then leaned back on his bed and looked at the ceiling. Jeremy was lounging on Tyler's gaming chair, comfortable and as close to happy as he could get. Pot usually helped with that- well…pot and a goal. "Ever since you told me about this vampire thing- and my dad being involved? Well, I've been trying to get some info to give you back."

Jeremy handed him the joint, leaning forward so much that he almost toppled over. "Dude, don't treat my sister like you did Vicki- and don't use the vampire thing as an excuse."

"Whatever. That's not what this is. Besides, I actually like your sister. She helped me through some heavy shit."

Jeremy thought that to be true. "So why stand her up?"

"This vampire thing- man, do you really think Vicki could be one of them? Could be alive?"

Jeremy nodded, "I do- she vanishes and then all of a sudden some guy turns up dead and ripped to pieces? Come on- it's not a coincidence." Jeremy watched as Tyler took a hit off the joint, then another before handing it back. "But she's not the same now. She's not human anymore. She's a monster and we have to help her. We have to end her."

"I…don't know if I can do that." Tyler looked down at his hands uncertainly, "do you really think you could drive a stake through Vicki's heart? I mean…really?"

Jeremy couldn't answer him. He glanced up at Tyler with a shrug, then looked back down. Vicki's concern for him in the months after his parents died had been entirely helpful. She allowed him to escape when nothing else could get him to think of anything else besides them. Then John came to town, took them off Jenna's hands after he was caught drunk driving and her brand of amnesia took a back seat to some serious training in vampire slaying.

Now he could help her, by ending her life as a demon- and isn't that what he had been training for? To kill the undead?

Now he was wondering if he could do it.

"What did you hear your dad talking about?"

Tyler frowned, "he was talking to Caroline Forbes' dad. He wanted to know if he knew where your ancestor's journals were."

"That's weird. I wonder why he doesn't know that my uncle has them."

Tyler shrugged, "I don't know- but maybe we should be reading them, right? We need to know what's really going on."

Jeremy found himself nodding, "yeah. Yeah. I'll look into that."

When Vicki went missing- it was Tyler who had helped him look. They had hated each other until then. Somehow the thing that made them hate each other became the thing that made him friends. Life was really, really strange like that. "He also said something about secret weapons that your ancestor had. Things that could help fight vampires."

"Yeah. My Uncle mentioned that." Jeremy said, "I'll rummage through our old stuff, maybe I'll find something." Then he stopped, "oh, hey- don't football tryouts start tomorrow?"

"Yeah- and you better be there. Matt's still pissed that I'm with Elena, so having a friend on the team? Kind of necessary at this point."

"Yeah, I got it. I want to be as in shape as possible. Any kind of physical training will be beneficial."

"Don't worry, they don't drug test." Tyler joked, "or I'd be off the team."

XOXOXO

He had been happy once. He had been able to control the beast inside himself- a beast that he didn't even know was really there. A demon that he thought was metaphoric, not as real as the trees or the grass or the moon.

What had happened to that? What had happened to the control that meditation had brought?

Oh. Yeah.

He killed his best friend.

And then woke up naked in the woods, with blood on him and body parts around him. He killed a stranger.

It was going to happen again soon.

The beast was going to rip through his skin, setting every part of him ablaze until he was a monster, a beastly killing thing with thoughts of nothing but blood and violence. It was going to eat him alive with its primal needs until he was nothing but a simpering pile of human in the morning, wretched and ugly in his nudity under the sun.

Dear God- was this why his whole family had such rage within them? Was this the beast below that polished veneer?

"Another whiskey," Mason Lockwood ordered.

The bartender came with his medicine, smiled that sweet, charming smile that used to make him weak in the knees and then set it in front of him. Charlene was the voluptuous money-maker of Rockin' Willies. He had dated her a while back, that went nowhere. Few things went anywhere anyway.

He downed the whiskey- then raised his hand for another.

"I think you've had enough."

"Really? Because I don't think so." Mason stood up in front of Liam Fell, Logan Fell's older, less formal, brother. He was a hill-billy really but Mason had liked him well enough. Right now though, he didn't like anyone.

"Don't do this, Mason." Charlene was pleading in the background.

Mason didn't care. He just didn't. The pain, the anger, the grief and the guilt were all awash inside him, sloshing around and drowning whatever was left of sense. "You gonna stop me, Fell?"

"Don't do this, man." Liam said calmly, "I don't want to fight- I just don't want you dying of alcohol poisoning. Why don't I just give you a lift home and we'll be done with this, okay?"

"How about you stop telling me what to do. I'm not done drinking tonight." Mason let his hands fall to his sides, open palmed. It was an invitation to fight and both men knew it. "Come on, why don't you impress your little Charlene here."

"You're out of line, Mason."

"Yeah, yeah- maybe." Mason threw some money on the bar, "I'll just find somewhere else to drink. How about that?" He muttered something unintelligible, not even sure he knew what he was saying and made a quick exit from the bar. _Damn it, Lockwood. Calm down. Calm the fuck down. This isn't you- this hasn't been you for a long, long time. _Who was he kidding though? He was cursed. They were all fucking cursed.

His human voice was being buried in a rage…

_I'm a monster…._

He stumbled a little, and felt his legs giving way beneath him when he suddenly found a shoulder beneath his hand. "Hey, mister. You okay?" He blinked some of the blur from his eyes and found himself staring into the dark, concerned eyes of a young Asian looking girl. He fell back a little and she grabbed his other arm with her left hand to steady him. "You need a ride or something?"

"I'm fine." He got out gruffly, looking past her and feeling really, really dizzy. _Got up too fast…ugh_.

"You're not." Cool hand on his face, moving his chin and gaze so that he was looking at her face- there was something in it he couldn't place….something strange was going on.

He laughed, "I'm a monster." He didn't know why he was saying it, but it felt good to utter the words.

"Run away little girl."

"This your truck?" She asked softly, ignoring what he said. "Come on, tough guy, lets get inside it." He stumbled towards the passenger side as she guided him and then helped him inside. "Keys?"

"Search me," he laughed and smelled the whiskey on his own breath. He thought the tiny thing wouldn't dare but her hand was already in his pocket, brushing places it shouldn't and then dragged his keys out. They clanged together as she pushed his legs inside the truck and slammed the door shut. He heard the door of his truck open and he rolled his head to look at the driver's side. She climbed in and then revved the engine up. She was too blurry to really see but from what he could tell she was pretty hot. "You takin' me to your place?"

"No. Where do you live?" She didn't sound annoyed- she sounded confused. "Give me an address and I'll get you there, okay?"

"Nowhere."

"No." She said very patiently, "I want an address so I can take you somewhere safe."

"I'm not in danger, everyone else is."

"Your address, please."

XOXOXO

Damon wanted to know what she was up to.

There was only one person to ask. Unfortunately that person had already left the apartment for their new home, wherever that was, and he was stuck with a _perky_ 27 year old witch who was looking for "Mr. Right" while mock dating vampire hunters to get information.

Jack was short for Jacynthe- which meant Hyacinth. She was the rebellious daughter to a pair of powerful witches in the deep south and so she still had that disgustingly cute southern twang. At the moment her wavy brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun as she made herself some coffee and regarded him with a sleepy expression and hooded blue eyes. She was the only person he knew who didn't dwarf the tiny Anna, though she had a bit more chest an ass than the eternal teen. She was "seeing" John Gilbert, Anna had told him, so that she could gather information for their "cause."

He preferred Jack to Slater for information but wasn't too fond of either.

"Elena Gilbert does exist." Jack told him as she poured some milk into her coffee, "or she did exist. I don't think Katherine killed her, personally. Slater is a little more pessimistic about the whole thing though."

"I see." Damon responded, then gave his most charming smile. "I'd like to hear your take on it and not Mr. Grad School's."

"Well sure." She sat down on the other side of the table and stirred her coffee with a spoon. "But there's not much I can tell you, Damon. We don't know most of it, if you recall it's Anna who has all the information and she keeps her secrets."

That had never bothered him- because Anna's secrets were not her own to keep. They were Pearl's. He understood her tight lipped stance on it all and respected it. "I know."

"She is not at all happy about this Elena Gilbert existing though." Jack said softly, "I can tell ya that, just from knowing her. I think that Katherine girl knows more about our Anna than we do too."

"She's not 'ours'." Damon said and made a face, "and you people wonder why I don't want to live with you."

"I never wondered." Jack responded in good cheer.

"Let me get this straight- okay?" At her nod, he continued. "John Gilbert has a daughter named Elena Gilbert, who was secretly adopted by his brother. Elena just happens to be the exact replica of Katherine. So you _think_ that she's a descendant of the Petrova line."

Jack nodded, "I think you've got it."

"But Elena is now missing, Katherine has replaced her and no one but Anna and company realize it?"

"Precisely."

Damon bit his lower lip, "well, lets keep it that way."

Jack frowned, "if that's how Emily Bennett wants it, then fine. I'm not pissing off a ghost witch- especially a Bennett one, ya hear me?" She stood up, finished her coffee and then put the cup in the sink. "There's more goin' on than your thing for Katherine, Damon. That includes Anna's safety too."

He felt a twinge of guilt and buried it, "well keeping Anna safe isn't my job."

"It was foretold that werewolves would kill her." Jack said fiercely, "and it is my job to keep her away from them."

"Well," Damon smiled, "good luck with that."

"Damon-"

"The only thing I can promise is that I won't tell Katherine that little detail. Now are you sure that's all we know? We don't know why Katherine wanted all the vampires dead? Outside of her faking her own death, I mean." Damon thought he knew- she was running from something. But what could have Katherine so spooked that she would run from it? Jack met his eyes with her steady blue ones. "You know, don't you?"

"Anna doesn't want you to know."

He was getting angry, "why?" He started circling the table menacingly, a dangerous smile playing on his lips- "do you really want to do this, Jack?"

Then came the mind-numbing pain- like his entire being was on fire. He dropped to the ground and ground his teeth into his lip to keep himself from screaming. _. _ "Anna thinks you'll go after whatever it is that wants to hurt Katherine and it will get you killed. 'He's too gallant,' she said, 'too much like a knight.'"

"Funny, I don't see him as either of those things."

It was Slater's voice, but Damon couldn't look up from the mind numbing pain to see his ugly mug. He could barely focus on what Jack was saying. _. _The repetition of the word was all he could do to keep from screaming in agony.

The pain stopped and Jack was standing over him. "Don't threaten me, Damon. I'm sweet- not stupid."

He hopped to his feet, regaining control instantly. "well thanks for nothing, kids." He told them, recovering quickly as he always did, "if you see Anna, tell her I stopped by."

He made a hasty exit- no one wanted to overstay their welcome after all, and took the stairs down from their very high apartment.

"_So you know everything there is to know about Katherine?" Damon asked as he followed her through the trees at a leisurely pace. The air was frigid and Damon was grateful he didn't have to breathe in the chill- or at least didn't have to feel it. They were still bundled warmly and even though they could reach the top without any problem, Anna had chosen to walk at a normal, human pace for a while. She missed being alive, he knew that much about her. Perhaps because sometimes he missed being alive too and he saw his own expression mirrored on her face. _

"_I hardly think anyone does- isn't that part of the allure?" Anna asked cheerfully. "My mother and I thought we knew enough to keep her from betraying us. We were wrong." _

"_What is she running from?" _

"_That isn't my secret to tell, Damon. Even if I wanted to, and I don't, I've promised my mother that I would never betray it." She stopped in her tracks, then turned around so that they were face to face. "You deserve better than her, Damon. I just wish that you would see that." When he didn't answer, she gave him a mischievous smile. "Race you to the top?" _

"_Are we done pretending to be human?" He asked sarcastically._

_She laughed, "I've had my fill. Now come on!" _

_And with that he was barreling toward the 'finish line' and all of his pent up energy went into running as fast as he could to the top of Mount Everest._

What could be so bad? So scary that Pearl would swear Anna to secrecy? His mind had gone over it a thousand times, but now that there was another clue- a Katherine double- there had to be more information.

As he approached the mansion, he noted the light on in Stefan's room. He started forward to see his brother.

XOXOXO

She should have known he was a Lockwood.

As she helped him up to the mayor's mansion, his body clumsily draped onto hers for balance, Anna cursed her stupidity. She needed to do one thing- stay away from werewolves- and what was the first thing she did? Drive the only werewolf in town from a night of drunken debauchery. _Sometimes it's like I want to die- I'm that stupid. Mama would have a cow_.

And why exactly was it that werewolves were this freakishly attractive?

This one was terribly, terribly handsome. His body was perfect, his smile was beautiful and why the hell did he have eyes _that_ blue?

Ugh.

She liked the smell of whiskey too. He had great choice in booze.

_How did my mother ever handle me? _"Come on, lets go." She coaxed as they approached the door.

Before she could knock though, the door flung open and she was standing face to face with a very severe looking butler. Of course they had a butler, he was the freaking mayor on top of being old money. Well, money he stole from her vampire family. _Assholes_.

"Master Lockwood!" he explained, "please, you get him inside, Miss."

The butler was older than dirt, but not older than her, and how he managed to walk was beyond Anna. Then again, it was no more surprising than Mason being able to walk considering how drunk he was. "Um, which room do I take him to?"

"Follow me."

Follow him she did, through the tall, meticulously clean mansion filled with old art, contemporary art, portraits of family members, winding hallways and spiraling staircases. The Lockwoods had done well for themselves it seemed.

Finally she arrived at the destination, the butler looked confused and so she smiled and sent him on his way. She was going to take care of it, of course. Mason could crush the old butler- then again, a gnat could have crushed the fellow.

Mason himself was rambling to himself, about his friend's death, about being a werewolf and about anything else that seemed to be bothering him. Another reason to keep the butler at arm's length, no need for everyone to know Mason's little secret.

The wolf thing was _really_ bothering him, it seemed. He went on about curses and misery, about the meaning of it all, about how he wished he had died instead. Her bitterness over what the Lockwoods had helped Katherine do to her family was starting to fade as Anna helped him into his bed and out of his clothes so that he could sleep comfortably. She sat on the side of his bed and watched his face. There were tears staining his cheek and a look of shame that put lines on his forehead and tensed his mouth.

She touched his face gently, feeling a pang of sympathy for him.

"_I must take lives? I must drink blood to live?" _

Her own voice in her memory strangled her reasoning capabilities, as it was wont to do.

He moved his cheek into her palm and rested there for, his tears wet against her skin. She was all set to hate every Lockwood within her sight, but this one- he was in so much pain that it took some effort to even remember why she hated them- or why she should be afraid of the wolves. _Keep her away,_ she tried to remember the witches words, _the wolves will be her undoing._

Anna snatched her hand away, but he was quick to grab it before she got too far. His eyes locked with hers, "you always come back for me."

She wondered to whom he was really referring. An old love? His mother? A friend? But to maintain his delusion would be cruel, and so she said: "You're home now, so I'm going to let you rest. But first," She paused her statement and tried to situate him on the bed so he would be lying on his stomach, "well cooperate." She ordered, and he tried to move his own body with some difficulty. Finally he managed. Her fingers lingered briefly on his broad shoulders and she was struck with the irrational need to laugh at his romance novel body- she could even see him on the cover of one herself. Stifling the giggle, she smiled. "You're not a monster. Monsters don't feel guilt- remember that."

There was no way that he probably would remember it, but hopefully it would sink into his subconscious.

Before he could say another word, she slipped from the room and quietly shut it behind her- just as another door opened.

She stood face to face with a boy, probably no more than sixteen, with dark hair in hap-hazard spikes, large sorrowful brown eyes and Thrice t-shirt. He was incredibly handsome- this town had no shortage of beautiful people- and she found herself blinking at him instead of speaking.

"Hello."

She looked at the door behind her, then back at him, making the all too human connection that he was probably making. "This isn't what it looks like." The cliché left her lips before she could pull it back and Anna felt the childish need to stomp her foot in frustration. "What I mean is that he was drunk and I just drove him home."

"You mean Mr. Lockwood. The tech teacher."

She nodded, "Um, I guess? I don't start school until Monday. I didn't realize he was a teacher there. Awkward."

He nodded, "I bet."

"Well," she leaned to the side to look past him down the hallway, "then I'll just be on my way home and we can all pretend that this never happened."

"I've learned pretending doesn't end well for people." He said as she walked past him.

She stopped and turned to look him in the eye, "is that why you look stoned and reek of marijuana? Because pretending isn't working well for you?"

Half his mouth lifted wryly into a smile. "You caught me. Do you smoke?"

"I do." She told him, "but I should really get home and rest up. I'm unpacking my things tomorrow. Maybe I'll see you around and we can pretend together."

"Sure. Maybe."

She found her own smile turn up, "why does that sound like no way in hell?" She asked with half a laugh, "that's fine though. I'm a busy girl. See you around."

"See you around."

XOXOXO

She was at five hundred sit ups now and her push up count was getting close to the one hundred mark as well. When you had little else to do besides imagine ways of escape, working out became essential. Elena found herself spending countless hours meditating, doing yoga and working out. It passed the time and it cleared her head.

Her real goal was to mentally withstand compulsion. Her Uncle John had told her that there were ways to do it, but he had not figured them out.

Since Elena was being compelled not escape, if she was able to withstand it, then maybe she really could escape. It was worth a shot and she was desperate. The options were slowly running out for her. Any one of the people she cared about could be killed by Katherine at any time and she was helpless to stop it. Suicide was her only other way of protecting them, this also depended on her withstanding compulsion.

_I will not give up._

Exhausted, Elena collapsed onto the ground and looked up at the cement ceiling. Where could this cell be? The Lockwood property? Near the old ruined church? Where? Was she even in Mystic Falls? Vampires could travel very quickly, maybe she wasn't even in Virginia.

_Stop it. Those aren't the questions you need to be asking yourself. You need to be wondering how to keep control of your own mind._

Elena reached over and gulped down some of the water she had in a glass next to her, then began to slowly and methodically stretching her muscles. She began to hum lowly under her breath, letting the rhythmic sound soothe her as she focused on the feel-good pain of stretching.

Her fear was all but gone, her grief and guilt passing with it. She was focused, calm and collected. That was what was needed. Escape. She had to focus on that.

Escape.

XOXOXO

"Hello, brother." Damon leaned against the doorway and folded his arms over his chest. "You look positively drained. Didn't your hunt turn out as planned?"

Stefan turned to look at his brother. There was no surprise in his presence, Stefan had learned long before never to be shocked when it came to the other Salvatore brother. Damon looked well, but that often happened when one still consumed copious amounts of human blood. He remembered that feeling- and it taunted him. His brother didn't even realize how easily it would be to give in, to follow him into the bloodletting. "Why are you here?"

"Why does everyone want to know why?" Damon asked with a chuckle, "can't I just drop into see my family? Must I have some evil plan?"

"You usually do." Stefan responded, "I think I know why you're here."

"Do you, now." Damon walked across the room and sat down on the dresser. Stefan could see the hatred in his eyes, and he didn't blame him. This hell of an eternity they were living in was all his fault anyway. "That's a neat trick. Why don't you tell me."

"Elena Gilbert." Stefan said simply, "you've seen her."

"Dead ringer for Katherine, huh?"

"She isn't Katherine. She's nothing like her. So there's no need for you to stay in town, now is there." Stefan stood from his bed and started walking out the door of his room. In a flash Damon was at his side, grabbing his arm. "Get off of me."

"Make me. Oh, right. You can't." Damon did let go though and gave him a smile, "I'll actually be staying in town though. But please, hold the excitement. I can only handle so much ego stroking."

"It's dangerous here, Damon. The Gilberts are still knee deep in vampire hatred. It's why…" He stopped himself from finishing, "they have the journals, they know who we are."

"Goodie. Then they won't be surprised when I kill them all one by one, will they?"

"I want to live in peace here." Stefan ground out, "why can't you just let me? Haven't we been around this carousel enough times, Damon? Don't you think it's time to get off?"

Damon smiled, "I promised you a life of misery, didn't I? What kind of brother would I be if I went back on my word, Stefan?"

They stood at each other, gazes locked, shoulders squared. Stefan knew he couldn't fight Damon, he wasn't nearly strong enough but he also knew that Damon wouldn't kill him. They would be stuck in this mutual anger and hatred for eternity. It would never end.

Suddenly Stefan felt very old and very sad as he looked on at his brother. _We'll always be this way. _Fatalism was never really his style, but resigned, Stefan walked out of his own bedroom and let Damon have it. He just couldn't bear it for a moment longer. Their rivalry and anger weighed heavily upon him, it was almost as much of a burden as all of the lives that he had taken. Almost.

XOXOXO

"Is this all of them then?"

Jack looked down at the collection before her. The compass, the siren, the enchanted crossbow and a few other odds and ends that had once been enchanted by Emily Bennett were laid out on the table before them. "Yes. Their duplicates have already been put in place."

"I don't like assisting vampires." Sheila said heavily and the two witches locked gazes. Jack understood the woman's trepidation, she really did. What Sheila didn't seem to understand was what kind of vampires Jack was working with.

"There isn't much of a choice, Sheila." Jack offered softly, persuasively, "in case you haven't noticed- war is coming. We need all the allies we can get."

"My granddaughter is not ready to join the circle." Sheila contradicted the silent plea, "she's strong but she isn't disciplined yet. We're working on it."

"I understand."

"Can we adapt these so that they will work for us?" Sheila wondered out loud.

Jack found herself nodding, "oh yes. We just need a few more books of shadows from the old ones." She walked around their collection smilingly, "I've replaced the old ones with replicas, so that they won't think John's weapons went missing. It took a while to make them all and it took even longer to get John to spill his secrets. I had to use a truth spell while he slept."

"Nice work."

"There were benefits." She said teasingly, "he wasn't so bad in the sack."

Sheila laughed, "you have to take the perks when you can get them in this thankless job."

"Definitely."

"Do your vampire friends know?"

Jack frowned, "Anna should be figuring it out soon enough- but she has a lot on her mind. Slater has no idea- but he will be willing to help. He's educated, wise- and Anna chose him. It seems she has been more wise than her mother in choosing companions."

"Sans the Salvatore."

Jack grimaced, "he's a problem. He'll easily switch sides and he has no loyalty to Anna or to humankind. He would need a bond to a human to change that. I don't know if that will happen."

"We can't make room for error. We should kill him."

"Do that and face Anna's wrath." Jack replied unhappily, "she seems to love him as she does Slater and myself. The wildcard stays...for now."

"For now." Sheila said quietly.


End file.
